TDP not to contest Lok Sabha polls in Telangana

HYDERABAD: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will not contest Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, party sources said on Sunday.

With several top leaders defecting to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and remaining leaders not keen to contest the polls, the TDP’s Telangana unit is understood to have decided not to field candidates for next month’s elections.

Monday is the last day for filing of nominations for the elections scheduled on April 11.

The TDP, which contested the recent Assembly elections in alliance with Congress, may announce support to Congress in all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana.

The TDP, the ruling party of Andhra Pradesh, had contested Telangana Assembly polls as part of the four-party ‘People’s Alliance’ led by the Congress. The alliance secured 21 seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly. They included two of TDP and one of them has crossed over to the TRS.

The decision came two days after former MP Nama Nageswara Rao quit the TDP to join the TRS, which gave him a ticket from Khammam Lok Sabha constituency. He was one of the last key leaders to leave the TDP.